Kessen
Sony PlayStation 2 £39.99 Koei/EA ***
Although based on a series of historic battles, Koei's Kessen game offers plenty of eye-candy, including attractive young warriors with distinctly un-Japanese bosoms.
The visual effects are stunning, as massed armies clash and lancers gallop past. If anyone awarded an Oscar for costumes in games, Kessen would win it by miles.
The gameplay is, unfortunately, less engaging. Kessen is a strategy war game of the sort that first became popular with boards and counters, only here your attempts to play the Japanese equivalent of Napoleon are continually interrupted by cut scenes and set-piece animations. There's nothing like the depth you get with Sid Meier games such as Civilization, or even Gettysburg. It is far too easy to win.
In the absence of a two- player challenge, you are unlikely to play the game more than twice. Western unfamiliarity with the characters and issues involved does not help.
Kessen could appeal to war gamers who are fed up with replaying with the usual scenarios - Eastern Front, Midway etc - and Japanese history boffs. But the stunning graphics are not enough to make this a compelling title for the rest of us. (JS)
Typing of the Dead
PC CD Rom £29.99 Sega/Empire ***
It's the oldest excuse in the book. Child pesters parent for new game, parent says no. Child claims software is "educational", parent shrugs and sneaks off for more Champ Manager. Well, with this new release, the young 'un may have a point.
Typing of the Dead is a perfect conversion of Sega's arcade and Dreamcast title, House of the Dead 2, but with one fundamental difference. Instead of blasting the zombies with a lightgun you now use a keyboard. Yup, simply reproduce the onscreen gibberish with nimble fingers and the undead die (again).
There are plenty of levels to work through but, with limited time allowed, it soon becomes clear that touch- typing skills are essential. The game includes a comprehensive tutorial, complete with numerous rewarding challenges, that makes learning touch-typing unexpectedly enjoyable. Even the most one-fingered laggard will improve, but to last more than a few minutes in the game proper you will need speeds resembling those on a PA's job description.
Of course the action itself is as simplistically short-lived as the original - blast pretty much anything that moves - but the end of level sections, which involve quick thinking as well as fingers, help keep you interested. Typing of the Dead won't appeal to everyone - after all, do you want to spend your free time bashing a keyboard if you spend your working day hunched in front of one? But, despite a steep learning curve, the graphical polish and respected arcade heritage mean you will improve your typing without realising it. A curious mix of chore and enjoyment, Typing of the Dead is a pleasingly different PC release. (GH)
Rainbow Six
Sega/Dreamcast £39.99 Swing/Red Storm **
One of the more anticipated Dreamcast releases, if only because it's been delayed more times than the Rolling Stones' retirement. Out on PC since time immemorial and long available on PlayStation and N64, Rainbow Six was scheduled to appear in DC form to coincide with the launch of the console. In the US. So what happened?
Well, in addition to adapting the PC game, Red Storm has kindly incorporated extra levels from the Eagle Watch missions disk - though this was compensation for, rather than the reason for the wait.
The programmers might have been held back by the task of converting the control set. A combination strategy/stealth/first-person shooter, R6 requires you to master no fewer than 35 commands - which on the Dreamcast joypad uses almost every conceivable combination of buttons. Even after several hours of manual-twitching, a momentary lapse can spell instant death.
The look, sound and feel of the game have been preserved remarkably well, although whether this was worth the effort is debatable. Surely this was the ideal opportunity for Red Storm to address the murky lighting, plasterboard environments and unimpressive sound effects? More welcome relics from the original are the cleverly designed levels and varied missions.
One thing that can't be blamed for the delay is the multiplayer code - there is none.
By the time you've memorised the innumerable controls, navigated the immense planning screens and drummed your fingers raw through the load times, Red Storm might even have finished converting the sequel. (AB)
